I just recently purchased Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix and I haven’t stopped listening to it since. If you like Lisztomania as much as I do, you’ll love this whole album. It is very coherent, with a few songs being instantly recognizable as siblings to Lisztomania, but at the same time there is a pleasant variety that keeps it from getting monotonous and boring. It’s also really nice background music to listen to while doing other things, such as driving or working. It’s enjoyable, yet easy to tune out when you need to focus on something else.

The first two singles off the album are also the first two songs – the aforementioned Lisztomania and 1901. They kick it off well, setting the tone for the rest of the album. After that comes Fences, another great song that’s worthy of release as a single. In fact, basically every song on this album could find success as a single, in my opinion. Other noteworthy songs are Lasso, Rome, and Countdown. Basically, everything.

The only thing wrong with the album is that it’s very short, at a touch over 36 minutes. I feel that some of the songs could have, and should have, been stretched out and played with a bit. Maybe they’ll consider doing that during their live shows. In any case, given that “too short” is the only negative I could come up with, this is one spectacular album. I have a feeling it will take a very long time for me to get tired of it, if ever.

Even though 2009 is shaping up to be a great year in the indie music scene, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix gets my vote for Album of the Year so far.

As you should know by now, I’m a huge Amazon MP3 store fan. Well, that’s for a good reason. Not only do they give away hundreds of free songs (some of them even good), but they also do things like pricing a hot new album (in this case, “Veckatimest” by Grizzly Bear) at $3.99!

This deal probably won’t last for long, so pick it up while you have the chance! That’s an amazing value for an album that’s going to be talked about all year (and then some).

While I have to admit I didn’t like them right away, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has definitely grown on me. I warmed up with their current single, “Who’s Asking“, previewed their new eponymous album, and ended up buying the whole thing. While “Who’s Asking” is definitely a good song, I thought I’d turn you on to a track you might not have heard yet.

“Masquerade” is a great little track. Besides their trademark tempo shifts all over the place (which takes a getting used to), it sounds like “Dead Man’s Party“, but from a parallel universe where Oingo Boingo was a punk band. Being an old fan of Elfman and company, I really like this song. So far, it’s my favorite on the album.

An interesting fact about MSHVB is that their drummer is the 13-year-old younger brother of the lead singer. He’s already amazing – I can’t wait to see what his career turns out like! I’m predicting greatness.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any full-length previews online for this song yet, so you’ll just have to take my word for it for now. Enjoy!

It opens strongly with a catchy synthesized horn riff, then gets right to the drums and twangy guitar goodness. I dare you to listen without bobbing your head. The only negative part about this track is that it does get a little repetitive, but overall an excellent tune. Look to be hearing this one more as time passes.

It’s always weird to like something without knowing it. If you would have asked me a year ago if I liked “jam bands”, I would have said no and looked at you like you were crazy. I’m not much into classic rock or psychedelia, which is how I used to think of jam bands (Phish and the Grateful Dead, for example).

Deerhunter changed all that. I heard their songs on XMU and fell in love. Only after I was a fan did I hear that they’re a jam band. Two of their songs are on my list of all-time favorites, and of those two, today’s Song of the Day “Nothing Ever Happened” is the best. It’s close, though. (The other will have its own SotD in the future.)

The first thing people usually say when they hear “I Know What I Am” by Band Of Skulls is that they sound a lot like The White Stripes, which isn’t surprising given that they are of similar composition. They have a guitarist and a drummer and a male and a female vocalist. The only extra instrument is a bass, which is played by the female vocalist. I also think they sound like 80′s Camaro rock. If you’re in the mood to bob your head to some good ol’ American guitars and drums, you’ll like this band.

If you like this song, you’ll probably like the whole album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. It’s all pretty consistent, which sounds bad but I think is a very good quality to have. At the time of this writing, Amazon has it on special for five bucks, so definitely make a point to pick it up asap if you’re interested. If you don’t want the whole album, another good song off of it is “Patterns“. Last.fm also has a full-track preview of this song.

Hey!

First off, thanks for visiting. I really appreciate your readership! I hope you like what you find here.

I'm just a regular guy who thinks he has good taste in music, and has access to the Internet. Right now, I'm into the indie rock/pop scene, but I also like hip-hop (mostly old-school), punk, reggae, ska, techno, and dance music. The main feature of this site is Song of the Day, which is pretty self-explanatory. Most of the songs will be brand new indie up-and-comers, though I'll be digging through my past favorites from time to time as well.

I'm a big fan of Amazon's DRM-free MP3 store. If you like anything you read or listen to on this site, there's a good chance you can find it there - most likely in my "astore". See the footer for the link to my mini-store.